Atlantic City Blackjack Online 2024 – Rules, Strategy, and Payouts

Emma Smith | January 10, 2023 | Updated on: September 27th, 2024

Atlantic City Blackjack is one of the most sought-after variations of 21 that you can play online. This game offers a favourable house edge. There are plenty of opportunities for you to increase your chances of winning when using a strategy. Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games that have one of the best paying casino games. So, it comes as no surprise as to why variations such as Atlantic City or popular. To get the most out of this casino game, you will have to understand the rules, where to play as well as how using a strategy can improve your odds. No need to worry as we go through all these elements below.

How to Atlantic City Blackjack

Like with any blackjack game you play, the end goal is to get to 21 without going over. You’ll be playing against the dealer using eight decks of cards. 52 cards will be used, and no Jokers will be found in the deck. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to play Atlantic City blackjack

1. Make Your Bet

Once you have joined an Atlantic City blackjack game, you’ll be prompted to make your bet. When you are ready to start playing, you will click on the deal button. The cards will be dealt. The dealer gets one card face down and the other face up. If the dealer gets a ten as his face-up card or an ace, you will be offered the opportunity to make an insurance bet.

2. Decide on Your Hand

When playing Atlantic City blackjack, you’ll be allowed to hit, stand, double or split. Here is what each of these decisions mean:

hit – you are asking to be dealt more cards.
Stand – you are choosing not to take any additional cards and leaving your hand as it is.
Double Down – with this decision, you are increasing your bet by doubling what it is. It is an exception that you were taking another card.
Split – with this decision, you’ll be choosing to split the two identical cards that you have received to create two different hands. Each of these hands will get its bet

3. Complete Your Hand

After you have made your decision on leaving your hand as it is or to improve it by having taken additional cards, you will then stand or Bust. A bust is when you have taken additional cards and have exceeded the total number of 21. Once this is complete, the dealer will then play their hand

4. The Dealer Play

At this point, the dealer will reveal their face down card, and they will build their hand similar to what you have done. The dealer must stand on a hand of 17. If the dealer busts, you will win the round.

Atlantic City Blackjack Rules

Now that you know the basics of how to play Atlantic City, we are going to explain how this variation of the game differs from all the other blackjack games.

Dealer must stand on a hard or soft 17

In most blackjack games, the dealer can hit on a soft 17. This is an advantage to the casino. However, in Atlantic City blackjack, the dealer will have to stand on either a hard or soft 17

You can double down after splitting

In Atlantic City blackjack, you are allowed to double down even after splitting. You are also allowed to then split it up to three times if you are down two identical cards.

You are allowed to late surrender

This blackjack variation allows you to surrender once the dealer has checked for Blackjack and they don’t have it. This is known as a late surrender, and you will lose out on half your bet.

The dealer can peek at the whole card

In Atlantic City, blackjack dealers can check for Blackjack. This can only be done if they are showing a nine, ten or ace card.

Playing the Ace card

If you are dealt a pair of ace cards, you can only split them once. Similar to how you would split any pair, each of these cards will be dealt an additional card after your split. No re-splitting of aces is allowed. After splitting aces and you make a blackjack, it will only be counted as 21.

Atlantic City Blackjack Strategy

As Atlantic City blackjacks has a few different rules to how it is played, it means you’ll have to adjust your strategy accordingly. For the most part, you can follow any basic blackjack strategy, but you will have to make a few adjustments. Here are some of the changes you can make to your basic strategy to suit the Atlantic blackjack variation.

If you have a hard 15, it is best to surrender if the dealer holds a ten or an ace.
Should you hold a hard 16 again, you should opt to surrender if the dealer is showing a 10, nine or ace
In Atlantic City blackjack, if you have a pair of eights, it is best to surrender rather than to split the hand.
It is important to remember that the dealer must hit on his hand up to 17, so it is important that you take great note of how you play your hands that are worth 18 or 17.

Atlantic City Blackjack RTP

The estimated house edge of Atlantic City Blackjack is 0.40%. This is what the game is expected to pay out over hundreds of thousands of hands.

A hand consisting of an Ace and any ten-card is known as blackjack. The payout for this hand is 3 to 2. However, there are some games which payout 6 to 5 for a blackjack. This significantly affects the house edge, and it is best to stay clear of these games.

The Insurance bet is a side bet which you can take if the dealer’s first card is an Ace. This bet will cost you half of your initial bet. if the dealer hits a blackjack, you will be paid out 2 to 1.

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